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Daily Business Report-June 27, 2013

101 West Broadway in Downtown San Diego was named an Outstanding Building of the Year Wednesday night.

Downtown San Diego Building Gets a TOBY Award

The Downtown building 101 West Broadway was named an Outstanding Building of the Year Wednesday night at the annual conference of the Building Owners and Managers Association International in San Diego. The TOBY Award was in the the 250,000 to 499,999 square feet category. The Downtown property is owned by the Irvine Company. Winners were recognized for excellence in office building management and operations in specific categories of building size or type.

Nearly 100 Redevelopment Sites in Limbo

What would you do with a park strip in Linda Vista, an unusable garage downtown and dozens of plots at the old Naval Training Center in Point Loma? Civic San Diego is trying to answer that question as it prepares a property management plan in the wake of last year’s end to redevelopment, the U-T San Diego reports. In all 96 sites, including these, lie in limbo as San Diego wrestles with the crumbs — some very valuable — left over from more than 50 years of redevelopment activity. Civic San Diego’s board, the city agency charged with winding down the workings of 11 project areas, began weighing this legacy of land this week.

Pathway Genomics and Susan G. Komen for the Cure have announced a partnership to educate women about the screening options available to detect a predisposition to breast cancer. In addition to cash donations, Pathway Genomics will provide genetic testing to women in need at no charge. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are a component of Pathway Genomics’ comprehensive Hereditary Cancer DNA Insight product. Prior to the recent Supreme Court ruling that invalidated certain patent claims covering BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, testing for risk of breast and ovarian cancers has been unaffordable for many with tests costing as much as $7,000. Pathway Genomics’ test will be more accessible and affordable to patients who are at high risk for breast cancer. “Providing patients with proper education and affordable hereditary cancer screening is extremely important to Pathway Genomics and will help pave the way to saving thousands of lives each year,” said Jim Plante, Pathway Genomics’ founder and CEO.

San Diego County Economic Index Rises

USD Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County rose 0.6 percent in May. The advance was led by sharp increases in building permits and local stock prices. There were also small gains in consumer confidence, help wanted advertising and the outlook for the national economy. The only negative component was initial claims for unemployment insurance. The five advancing components outweighed the one declining one to push the USD Index to its ninth straight gain and 17th in 18 months. With May’s advance, the outlook for the local economy remains unchanged from recent reports: Good growth is expected in the local economy through the end of 2013 and into at least the first part of 2014.

Kaiser Says $4 Million State Penalty is Unfair

Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Diego

Kaiser Permanente is calling a $4 million fine imposed by state regulators “unwarranted and excessive,” KPBS reports. The state penalized Kaiser for limiting access to mental health services. The Department of Managed Health Care faulted Kaiser in March for a number of deficiencies, including making mental health patients wait too long between appointments. This week, the agency imposed the fine because the insurer didn’t promptly correct these problems. In a written statement, Kaiser spokesman John Nelson maintained the company has hired new providers and improved wait times. Jim Clifford, a long-time therapist at the Kaiser clinic in Otay Mesa, said there’s now too much concentration on initial appointments.

“Then that makes our greater problem even worse, which is we don’t have any appointments to follow up patients with,” Clifford said. “It’s often a month or even two months before we can get a follow-up appointment with patients.” State regulators say they’ll continue to monitor Kaiser to ensure it’s complying with the law.

General Atomics to Develop a New Version of the Predator Remotely Piloted Aircraft

General Atomics’ Predator B

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. announced that it will develop a variation of its Predator B remotely piloted aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, possible NATO foreign customers, and will have enhanced capabilities for integration into domestic and international airspace. “Predator B is the most cost-effective and best-valued RPA in its class and continues to draw significant interest from our NATO allies,” said Neal Blue, chairman and CEO of the company. “It is imperative that we ensure airworthiness certification of Predator B both at home and abroad as coalition forces withdraw from Afghanistan and nations transition mission focus to protection of the homeland and other civil uses.” General Atomics and RUAG Aerospace Services GmbH, its German partner, have been teamed for the past two years to offer Predator B to meet the surveillance needs of the Federal Republic of Germany, but this is the first formal contract between them.

Ratepayer Advocates File to Stop Paying for San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant

The Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent branch of the state’s Public Utilities Commission, wants the commission to act now to reduce what Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric are charging ratepayers for San Onofre, KPBS reports. “We hope the commission sees the obvious,” said Truman Burns of the DRA, “which is that the plant is shut down and it’s not being restarted, and now is the time to actually reduce rates for ratepayers.” Burns said more than $500 million a year is at stake in basic operating costs the operators continue to charge ratepayers. Plus, ratepayers are currently paying $115 million a year toward the defective steam generators installed in 2010 and 2011. Those sums include profits that shareholders could reasonably expect from an operating plant, but which Burns said should be discontinued since the plant has not been operating for more than a year. Maureen Brown, a spokesperson for Edison, wrote that the motion is premature and the claims unfounded.

CentreWest Plaza Sold for $29.2 Million

CentreWest Plaza

CentreWest Plaza, a 116,825-square-foot Class A office park in Sorrento Mesa (9710 and 9740 Scranton Road), has been sold for $29.2 million to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC. The seller was Cruzan-Monroe AEW Scranton LLC, represented by Cassidy Turley San Diego. CentreWest Plaza, built in 1990, features twin three-story buildings. Exterior building renovations were done by the seller. It is designed to accommodate tenants ranging in size between 2,000 square feet up to full floor users of 19,000 square feet. Leasing is handled by Cassidy Turley.

Council Reaffirms Support

for ‘Managed Competition’

The San Diego City Council approved a resolution to reaffirm support for the voter-passed competitive bidding process known as “managed competition,” City News Service reports. Councilman Kevin Faulconer offered the resolution in response to Mayor Bob Filner’s halting of the program while he studies its impact. The document calls on the mayor to continue the program. “The purpose of this resolution is to send a very clear message to voters that this council is committed to running an efficient city government, a government that is focused on reducing unnecessary overhead and delivering effective services for our neighborhoods,” Faulconer said. He said managed competition, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2006 but not implemented until about four years later, is a proven tool to cut government waste. The five competitions that have been completed so far have all been won by employees of the affected departments.

Lynn Neault Appointed Interim President of San Diego City College

Lynn Neault

Lynn Neault has been appointed to serve as the interim president of San Diego City College following the retirement of President Terrence Burgess. Neault, who assumes the position on Aug. 1, has spent more than 30 years in the San Diego Community College District. She currently serves as the vice chancellor of student services, a post she has held since 1994. She also has held the posts of director and associate director of student services, coordinator of student services and administrative analyst in the Office of Institutional Research. Neault is a graduate of San Diego State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate.

Local Financial Advisers Join Stratos Wealth Partners

Michael Mays

Financial advisers Michael Mays, James Pierik and Thomas Strohl have combined staffs and joined Stratos Wealth Partners. Mays is aformer advisor at Wachovia Securities, UBS, and Wells Fargo Advisors, while Pierik has spent the bulk of his career with LPL Financial and Strohl served at Kidder Peabody, AG Edwards, and Wells Fargo Advisors. The expansion of the San Diego location will give Stratos Wealth Partners a presence in 15 states. Mays will assume the additional responsibilities as director of corporate services, nationally, for Stratos Wealth Partners.Mays, Pierik and Strohl manage $350 million in brokerage and advisory assets.

American West Bank Adds Residential Lender

Michael Francisco has joined AmericanWest Bank as a residential lender in San Diego. Francisco has more than 12 years of residential lending and sales expertise. In addition, he is active in the Mira Mesa Chamber of Commerce and the Young Professional Network of San Diego.His office is located at the University Towne Center Branch at 4445 Eastgate Mall, Suite 110 in San Diego.

Attorney Ben Wagner to Receive Pro Bono Publico Award

Locally-based Mintz Levin attorney Ben L. Wagner, has been selected to receive the Pro Bono Publico Award from the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program. The award honors a San Diego attorney who has “selflessly provided legal services on behalf of SDVLP.” Wagner was specifically selected for his work on behalf of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. He and other SDVLP award recipients will be honored at SDVLP’s annual Justice for All Celebration on Sept. 19 at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Architect Benjamin White Named 2013 Alumnus of the Year

Architect Benjamin W. White was named NewSchool of Architecture and Design 2013 Alumnus of the Year for his sustained contribution to the profession, the quality of his designs and his commitment to the school and community. White, who received the award at the school’s commencement June 22, has worked for leading architecture firms, served as an instructor at NSAD and was a founding member and past president of NSAD’s Alumni Advisory Board. A 2001 graduate of NSAD’s Bachelor of Architecture program, White is currently pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science and management at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.

Federal Contracts

COI Ceramics Inc.

COI Ceramics Inc., San Diego, won a $149,940 federal contract from NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., for HI-Nicalon tows.

Altego Systems

Atego Systems Inc., San Diego, won a $9,500 federal contract from the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, for ObjectAda maintenance renewal.

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We Want Your Opinions on San Diego’s Big Issues
In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
Some areas may include Mayor Filner’s first 100 days job performance, should the city be responsible for economic growth and the creation of new jobs, how important are infrastructure improvements to our daily lives (streets and bridges, etc.), how important is water independence, how satisfied are residents with public transit or how do city residents value Balboa Park and other open spaces? Do you believe the City Council should revive the Plaza de Panama plan for Balboa Park?
You can email Probolsky Research directly with your ideas: info@probolskyresearch.com